No Prey, No Pay
by arrowsandroses
Summary: Now in hiding, Anne recovers in Angel's Port, an island hidden in West Blue and home to the infamous Red-Haired Shanks. As the pirate festival looms closer and notorious faces start to gather in town, Anne's identity - and safety - is jeopardized as an unlikely relationship begins to bloom with not one, but two, infamous pirates.


_A rewrite of No Prey, No Pay. This is a warning for graphic violence, disturbing material, sexual content, and depictions of abuse (not romantic) within the story. Read at your own discretion. _

* * *

_Three minutes, Miss Leanne. That's all I can give you. You have three minutes._

The double doors shrieked as they crashed back into the frame, the windowpanes wobbling violently, echoing down the hall. The sound chased her until her heels touched the grass outside. She left the exit doors open, learning from her mistake seconds earlier. Leanne never meant to shove the foyer doors with such force, and now the chateau sprung to life, footsteps careening down every hall, shadows coming around the razored, green hedges, metal rifles glinting from the orange licks of light pasted along the opulent castle.

She knew only to duck and crawl, too distracted to worry about her breathing and how much noise she made; she could only focus on freeing the skirt of her dress as it snagged on the little black fence that protected the hedges. It tore as she forfeited it to the iron grasp, wondering how long three minutes could be when every second mattered.

Gentle hands found her shoulders and hoisted her onto her feet. _Bellus_, his face gaunt though untwisted from the misery of his wounds. Now dressed in the black uniform of the Avalon Army, she felt the dampness of his torso as he embraced her, and when he pulled away, her yellow gown darkened with blood.

"This way," he whispered, guiding her through the trees. Leanne knew every inch of this island, except where they were housing the ship. If not for his aid in her escape, Leanne would plead for him to release her hand, fearing the removal of his own or much, _much_ worse.

As the raced down a grassy hill, Leanne realized they were heading toward the guest docks. She could see nothing past the yachts, worried they might seize one and earn the attention of the navy and pirates if they even managed to set sail.

Never mind the threat of any rebels lurking on the waters.

"It's been more than three minutes," Leanne said, her shoulders quaking as their shoes met the sandy slope of the beach. They raced toward the steps leading up to the dock; the rest of the island awakened by noise she refused to let rob her focus. But then the howls started, and Bellus fell across the steps, his arm weakly shoving at her.

"No, we're almost the-"

"Right at the end," Bellus whispered against the hoarse grate of his throat. "They're waiting for you."

She ran, sobbing out as she heard the first crunch of fangs ripping into meat. Bellus's wails followed her as she raced to the end of the dock, managing not to trip all the way there, until she saw the two cloaked figures waiting. They beckoned her onto the motorboat, their faces hidden from her—or the guards. Behind her, she could hear the galloping steps, and as one of the cloaked figures reached for her, she tumbled forward.

The hound's maw sank over her ankle, splitting her skin and finding bone as it crushed down. Leanne screamed into her hand, forced to choke out the sound as she kicked desperately at the creature until a bullet put it to rest. Beasts riddled with infection that could decay you from the inside out in a matter of days if you didn't have the antidote, which she did not, which she could not afford to fear as she sank back into the motorboat and curled inward between the benches. One of her rescuers crouched beside her, their fingers gentle as they inspected her bleeding ankle.

"Can you lose them?" a woman's voice inquired, though Leanne did not recognize it.

Overhead, the darkened sky wrestled with blooming clouds, lit from within as electrical branches sprouted across the heavens. Thunder warned them first, and then the first, golden bolt struck down, igniting the dock. Leanne could smell the blackened wood, could hear it split apart and waste into the water. She didn't lean up to watch the island disappear, as the motor roared to life and they set off into the open sea.


End file.
